


Hidden Reflections

by Jenny074186, moonstoneclone



Series: Heroes Fall [1]
Category: Captain America (Movies)
Genre: Angst, Heartbreak, Military, World War II
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-22
Updated: 2016-09-11
Packaged: 2018-06-10 02:29:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,641
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6934702
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jenny074186/pseuds/Jenny074186, https://archiveofourown.org/users/moonstoneclone/pseuds/moonstoneclone
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The backstory of our OC, Hannah Starling, and how she met Steve and Bucky. Original content up until the first part of Captain America: The First Avenger.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. In The Cellar Of My Despair

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The beginning of it all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This first chapter is more of developing/introducing our OC and won't have any of the MCU characters, but they will be there in the next chapter. Enjoy!

_age 8_

 

 

A girl sits crying on the weathered brick steps to her newly vacant house. The agent for the Orphanage stands a few steps away, talking to another agent, ignoring the blonde-haired child for the time being. Kids were always like this, no need to coddle one child just because of a disaster. The agent has seen worse endings for parents. House fires are closer to the bottom of the list.

The agent checks her information to read the name, and speaks sharply to the child on the steps.

“Time to go, Hannah. We have a schedule to keep.”

Blue eyes stare blankly at the agent, tears welling up again at the thought of leaving her home and her once happy life behind.

“Come now, we only have a few minutes before the Orphanage is expecting us.” The agent repeats, checking her watch again.

Hannah slowly descends the steps, never looking back at the blackened house again. She takes the hand offered to her, and follows the agent to the car awaiting them in the street. The driver gives her a small smile, then turns around again. The drive to the Orphanage was quiet and tense for the girl, as she didn't know what to expect. All she knew was that she was going to live somewhere else with other kids.

The Orphanage was a vast and dark place. When they arrived, Hannah froze in her seat and stared wide-eyed at the prison that lay before her.

“Come on, time to go inside,” the agent urges, ready to go onto another routine and then go home.

The girl slides out of the car,  and stands there, staring at the institution. She spoke for the first time since the fire,

“What will happen to me now?”

The agent gazes at her, and leaves without a word. Hannah follows obediently to the door of the Orphanage. The plaque on the side of the door has been screwed on lopsided, and the girl inspects the intricate design of the plaque while the agent knocks on the door.

A stout woman with sharp glasses answers the door with a frown. When she sees the girl staring blankly at the sign, she wears a fake smile and calls to the girl.

“Hello, darling! Welcome to the ‘Orphanage of the Blessed’. Come and make yourself at home.”

The girl’s gaze drops to the welcome mat on the ground. The woman gives the girl a concerned look and asks the agent what’s wrong with the child. The agent silently hands the packet of information to the lady and leaves the premises.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading this short introduction of Hannah Starling! The next chapter will definitely be more interesting.


	2. Princess of Flight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meeting Steve and Bucky.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We don't actually know what we're doing with this ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯  
> Enjoy anyways! ~J  
> Alright, this is where it all begins. Good luck! ~W

_age 12_

 

 

Trash cans and vendors go by in a blur as Hannah rushes by. She receives a couple of glares and surprised looks when she passes, but she doesn’t care. Now is not the time to explain to people why she was running, because they would just call the foster parents she was running from and she would be shipped right back. Hannah never got along with this family; the mother yelled at her for not being lady-like, the father wanted a son but never got one, so he took it out on the children of the house. The daughter enjoyed humiliating her in any way possible.

So Hannah ran.

Obviously this wasn’t her first time escaping a foster home. She had done it plenty of times, but this was a record. Ten times this month. She should get a reward for putting up with the humiliation this long. And hopefully the Orphanage would realize that she didn’t belong there, and transfer her to a better home.

She tears down an alleyway and ducks behind a towering stack of timber to reach her hiding spot. Hannah had come to decorate that place because of her multiple failures in foster families. A ratty old blanket covered the concrete ground, with cardboard boxes and crates creating makeshift chairs. An old picture was also tucked away in the corner of the sanctuary. Most of these treasures Hannah had found in the trashcans in alleyways. She would find something unique, and take it back to her hiding spot. Hannah stops in the doorway and stared.

She never remembered taking a boy from the trash.

“What are you doing here?” she asked breathlessly, adrenaline coursing through her body from the run.

“Why? Am I intruding on your playing, _princess_?” he replied cockily, smirking at her reaction.  

The girl’s anger flared, but decide to be silent. She observed the arrogant boy sitting on the boxes. The boy’s smirk grew when he saw the annoyance plain on her face.

“What’s wrong, buttercup? Not used to not getting your way?” he tilted his head and gave that lopsided grin of his. And Hannah snapped.

“What is wrong with you? Do you _NOT_ have any manners?” she spat. The boy’s smirk died and his eyes widened. They stare at each other for a moment, daring the other to break eye contact. Seconds tick by. It was the boy who blinks first. He leans back against the timber wall, and crosses his legs. “You got quite a temper for a girl.”

“And you have non-existent manners, dickwad.” Hannah shot back, relaxing a little because she no longer felt threatened by him. He gawked at her language, causing her to smirk. “Aww, I never knew the little soldier could be embarrassed.”

In a matter of seconds, the brown-haired kid left the box and had shoved Hannah against the wall. He towered over her, causing her to shrink under his intense stare. “Don’t. _Ever_. Call. Me. A. Soldier.” He whispered in a low voice. Hannah nodded her head quickly.

And then, as if nothing had happened, he went back to his previous attitude. He sauntered back over to “his” box, and sat. Hannah remained where she was huddled, eyeing him warily.

“The name’s Bucky. So what’s a princess like you doing in a place like this?” the boy named ‘Bucky’ gestures vaguely around the hideout.

Hannah straightens her posture and glares defiantly at him, immediately becoming defensive, “Why do you want to know? Maybe I like it here…” she trails off, not knowing how else to defend herself.

“It’s your parents, right? They tend to make you want to run.” Bucky leans against the wall, arms behind his head, and crosses his legs.

“What makes you think I’m running?”

“This is the usual characteristics of a runaway,” he again gestures vaguely around the place with a wave of his hand. Hannah sniffs and crosses her arms; she had been beat.

“Okay, fine. You got me there, but why do you think I’m running from parents?” she was faintly interested in this answer, wondering if running away from parents was common.

“It’s obvious. Every kid wants to run from the parents, although many don’t go through with it…” the teenager stops, realizing his mistake.

“I don’t have parents. They’re dead,” she confirms his thought. She glares at the ground before continuing, “I’m running from my foster parents. Well, for the tenth time.” she snorts at her own comment, as if not believing it herself.

Hannah hears Bucky jump down from the box and approaches her, “Hey, it’s alright. Parents aren’t that great anyways,” she remains staring at the rug designs.

“How would you know? You’ve never been without parents,” she whispers, lips barely moving when she spoke.

He is quiet for a moment. He sits on the raggedy rug and motions for Hannah to sit down as well. Running footsteps interrupted their quiet oasis.

A small blonde-haired kid, about the same age and same size as her, rounded the corner and entered her hide-out. “Hey Bucky! Nice place you found…” another voice called out, trailing off when he saw that they weren’t the only ones there.

“Who are you?” the girl hissed, unamused that her day was ruined by a bunch of boys.

“I’m sorry miss, is this your place?” the blond haired boy asked politely.

“Yes, and you boys are intruding,” she replied, with much as much hostility as she can muster. She moved away from Bucky’s side and moves into a fighting stance.

“We’re so sorry miss…?” the blond apologized while staring at Bucky for help.

“Hannah. Hannah Starling. And you are?” she replied, ignoring manners for the time being and stared defiantly at the blond haired boy, still tense and ready to fight if she had to.

“Steve Rogers, miss,” the teenager replied, a small smile coming to his lips. Bucky remained silent and watched the girl, a smug smile coming to his lips.

“Don’t worry, Steve, you can also call her Princess. This is her kingdom after all.”

At the same time, Hannah and Steve turned and glared at him. They scolded him in unison.

“Don’t call me tha--”

“That’s rude, Buck--”

They cut off, looking at one another, unsure of what to think about the other. Bucky just smiled and laughed, obviously amused by the sudden turn of events. He saunters up to them and wraps his arms around each of their shoulders. “I think we are going to be great friends!”

He begins walking them out of the hide-away, but before they can cross the street, the police stop the trio and ask for Hannah to come with them, and that her parents are worried. Hannah tenses and begins to look for alternative routes for escape, but with one look from Bucky she resigns and leaves with the men to go back home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Slightly longer than the last chapter right?


	3. The Girl Who Wants To Be Found

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How Hannah changes Steve and Bucky's life.

A few nights later the Orphanage’s owner is woken with a phone call. One of the children has gone missing and cannot be found anywhere. She's worried about her reputation, but brushes off the fact that another one of the brats has escaped. She tells the caller to put in a missing child report to the police and returns back to bed.

The next morning the streets were filled with papers with Hannah Starling’s name printed in large letters across the paper with an outdated photograph of her, and on the bottom the number of the Orphanage to contact if anyone finds her.

“No one is going to find her.” Bucky states, ripping a flyer off of a lamp post. “If she doesn’t want to be found, she won’t be.”

Steve looks up at Bucky. “Why would she even run in the first place?”

“She told me that her foster parents weren’t the best people to be with.” He wrinkles the flyer in his hands. “I wouldn’t blame her.”

The boys continued onto school, both keeping a lookout for the running girl.

* * *

Almost a week has gone by and news of the missing orphan girl has faded into the background of the busy Brooklyn streets. Neither of the boys had heard anything from the blue-eyed girl, but they both agreed to not give up hope.

Two weeks later, after Bucky saved Steve from another fight with the school bullies, the boys are walking home via their normal route. But something is different; something is off, but neither can figure out why. The boys shrugged it off and say goodbye to each other and head their separate ways.

Steve still feels like he is being followed, and takes a detour through busy streets on his way home, afraid that he was going to be attacked. While Steve was passing an alleyway, he was pulled into the darkness. Someone pushes him against the wall and covers his mouth with their hand. He tries to yell, but is quickly kneed in the gut, causing him to grunt and fall to the ground. He hears a gasp and a string of apologies following. Confused by the action, he looks up to see a person that looked strangely familiar. He gets even more confused when the potential mugger brushes the dirt off of him and helps him to his feet. Steve squints into the darkness, struggling to find the perpetrator in the alley.

“Hannah? Is that you…?” He asks uncertainly.

A hand from the dark grabs one of his own. “Yeah, Steve. It’s me.” She looks more worn out and dirtier than ever, but her eyes were still bright.

He lets out a relieved sigh and begins to laugh, but she silences him. “Look, you’re the only one I let see me yet, and I kinda wanna keep it that way, okay?” He nods and lets her continue. She backs off from him and gets uncertain and quiet. “I know times are tough and all, but I’ve run out of food and water. I know of no one else, not even Bucky and I do really hate to ask this of you..” She trails off, staring at the ground, thankful Steve can’t see the blush forming on her cheeks.

Two hands go on her shoulders, and she glances up into Steve’s face. “I have a better idea.”

Without another word he takes her hands and brings her out into the busy streets of Brooklyn. He wraps an arm around her shoulder in order to not lose her and he guides her into his house, where she ends up setting her permanent residence for the next eight happiest years of her life.

Over the course of these eight years the trio went on many adventures and saved Steve from many fights until the day Sarah Rogers died in 1940, and world became much more real to them than it ever had before. Hannah had lost another mother and that was when Bucky went off to train for the war.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We realize this chapter is short, but we swear it'll get longer soon enough.


	4. Those Who Went Before

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The beginning of Captain America: The Fist Avenger.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is really really long. Enjoy~

Once again Steve Rogers was in a fight. This time it was the back of a movie theater.

Her heels clicked on the concrete ground as she approached the alleyway, dress swaying in the light breeze of the warm afternoon. Hannah approached the couple fighting in the corner and calmly cleared her voice. The bully turned around in confusion.

“Still the same scrawny kid picking a fight eh?” She interrupted, slowly placing her purse and coat on the ground beside her. She began folding her shirt sleeves up and taking off her shoes and setting them next to her other belongings already on the ground.

“Get lost, doll. This ain’t your business,” The bully turned back around and picked up Steve from the ground.

“Who ya callin’ a doll? Dolls are breakable, and I’m not the one who’s going to be breaking today,” she smiled sweetly, reeling back her arm to throw the first punch. Before she could, another fist came into contact with his face, and he dropped Steve and turned to see a pissed off Bucky Barnes in military uniform before a smaller fist went for his nose. The bully pulled back and fled the theater, and on the way Bucky gave him a kick and Hannah tripped him on his escape.

After the man left, Buck rushed over to pick Steve off of the ground and check to make sure he was alright. Hannah scooped her belongings off of the concrete and carried them back over to their sides. “I could have gotten him, you know,” She muttered, using a handkerchief to mop up the blood on Steve’s face.

“You could, but you shouldn’t. You’re supposed to act like a lady, not a ruffian like this one.” Bucky retorted, nodding toward a now standing Steve.

Steve wiped any leftover blood on the sleeve of his jacket and muttered his usual line of “I had him on the ropes”. His companions rolled their eyes in unison and they call began walking  towards the streets.

Bucky swatted Steve with a flyer and told him to get ready for their double date tonight. They had recently asked Hannah if she had wanted to come with them, but she declined and made an excuse about working that night. Secretly she had wanted to go as their trio as it is Bucky’s last day before being shipped out to Italy, but Bucky, being the profound “ladies’ man”, set up dates for himself and Steve, and she was not going to fight other girls for the attention of her best friends.

Hannah gave Bucky a small smile and farewell before departing with Steve in the opposite direction to their home.

The walk was long, and by the time they reached the apartment the sun was beginning to set. She closed the door after Steve and leaned against it, closing her eyes. He ran up the rickety stairs to get changed while she stood there for a while before dropping her bags in the hallway and going to her room. She carefully looked around her room, once again appreciating Steve for all that he has done for her, and how Mrs. Rogers was kind and caring that even Hannah had called her “mother”.

Something snapped in Hannah. Bucky was leaving tomorrow. She suddenly felt dizzy and had to sit on her bed, anger surging through her at the thought of Bucky abandoning Steve and her. She hates the war and hates that he was drafted, even if she knows it’s not his fault. Bucky leaving meant Steve will try even harder to join the army, leaving her all alone. And she was not about to lose everything again.

A soft knock on her door shook her from her thoughts. Steve stood in the doorway, wearing a fairly worn suit with his tie draped around his shoulders and a sheepish grin plastered on his face. “You think you could give me a hand?” He gestured with the shoes that he was holding to his untied tie, and Hannah rolled her eyes at him.

“You would think that you would be able to tie a tie by now,” she stated as she slid off the bed and strolled over to begin working on his tie. She finished in a matter of seconds, stepping back to admire her work. She frowned when she noticed him staring at her. “What?”

He glanced at the ground before answering. “Nothing, just wish you were coming with us. It won’t be the same without you.” Hannah placed her hands on her friend’s shoulders and gave him a small smile before pulling him into a hug. The stayed like that for a few moments before a knock on the door pulled them apart. Steve left to answer the door, finding Bucky on the steps.

He regarded Hannah for a moment before turning away with Steve in tow, leaving Hannah to watch them from the door. A memory from the night before Bucky left for Wisconsin flashed in her mind.

_“Why are you leaving Steve and me? I thought you didn’t want to be a soldier! How could you do this to us?” Hannah yelled at him in the alleyway that she had pulled Bucky into to talk. She was angry, confused, and hurt. He just remained looking at the ground, refusing to look at her, or even speak to her. She raked a hand through her hair and took deep breaths, trying to calm herself. She paced in front of him, watching him. Then she stopped. She knew._

**_He had been drafted._ **

* * *

It took about an hour of back and forth before she decided to actually go to the Stark Expo. She put on her light pink dress and fixed her curly blonde hair and makeup. She removed the drawn-in tights from the back of her legs and put on her one pair that she kept safe from the war effort, and ran out of the door towards the exposition.

* * *

Upon entering the expo, Hannah had wandered about the grounds, observing and enjoying the little experiments that the scientists had performed for the audiences. She kept an eye out in case she saw her friends, but so far to no avail. An announcement to go to the main stage came over the loudspeakers, and the girl followed the crowd towards the stage where the great Howard Stark was standing and gesturing wildly to a car that had stage girls sitting on it. She watched in fascination as he pulled a lever and the car began to float, as if it were flying. Unfortunately, after a couple of seconds, a loud sound sent the car crashing back to the ground. A few laughs escaped the crowd as Stark just shrugged and chuckled along.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw a man leave the crowd another frantically looking around before following him. She turned around just to recognize Bucky looking for who she assumed to be Steve. She exited the crowd to catch up to the two, stopping short when she heard them arguing. She followed Steve into the tent that he had disappeared into, rolling her eyes when she saw the government building he was walking into.

She watched as two helmeted soldiers accompanied by a scientist went into the room where he was, and Hannah’s heart began to race. Had they caught him? Do they know he’s lying about the location he is from? She began to step toward the room until she saw both the scientist and Steve exit the room, conversing in serious tones. The man stamped the file he was holding and handed it to Steve, smiled, and walked off. Hannah ran to him and grabbed onto his arm in a panic and tried to drag him out of the building. Steve looked at her with a mixture of excitement and confusion on his face.

“Hannah? What are you doing here? I thought you were working tonight…”

“Steve, we need to get out of here before they send you to prison for lying!” Hannah desperately tugs on his arm again, giving him a pleading look. He slowly breaks into a smile and hands her the file. She stops pulling and gives him a quizzical look before taking the file and opening it. As she reads the contents inside, her heart sinks as she reads the stamp on his enlistment form.

**IA**

* * *

Hannah runs out of the building to get some fresh air. She feels like she is about to be sick at this news and doesn’t know what to do, fear and panic crashing over her. Steve comes up behind her. “Hannah, this is what I want. I need to do thi-”

“Go home, Steve.”

He stops talking quickly, surprised at her sudden anger, and obeys her order without complaint. After hearing his footsteps fade into the crowd, she closes her eyes and takes a deep breath, but instead of calmness, she feels her anger being redirected towards someone else. She opens her eyes and makes a bee-line for the bar.

The light swing music surrounds her as she opens the bar doors and makes her way to the dance floor. She maneuvers around couples until she finds the man she was searching for. She silently pushes the girl hanging on Bucky and grabs his arm to drag him outside. As soon as they were past the couples outside, she slaps him. And she slaps him again. And again. He stays silent through the whole thing, watching as tears creep into her eyes and threaten to spill out. Bucky waits for her to finish with her attack before pulling her into a hug, gently rubbing Hannah’s back as she grabs the front of his uniform and quietly sobs.

“I’m going to be all alone,” she sniffled, shoulders still shaking.

“No you’re not, princess, you’ll still have me, and Steve--” Hannah tore away from him, eyes bright with anger.

“That’s just it, Buck! Steve enlisted again, AND THEY ACTUALLY APPROVED IT!” More tears came and she grabbed her head and screamed. Bucky’s face was scrunched up in shock and horror, not believing that their government would allow his best friend happily march into the gunfire and blood-strewn battlefields.

“No…” He quickly masks his disbelief and anger and hugs Hannah again. “Hey, it’ll be alright. Steve will be fine, he’ll probably just be backup. He might not even see a battlefield at all.”

“I know, Buck, but even then, I’ll still be alone here. I can’t do that again. Maybe somehow I can get in as well--”

“Hannah. Look at me.” Bucky shakes her slightly, urgent for her to understand the point he is about to make. “Do not sign up for anything with this war. I don’t need to be worrying about both of you getting blown up or hurt while I’m away. I can’t lose you both…”

People walked by them as they left the bar, their voices growing and fading. A soft breeze came as the two stood there, silently embracing the other. A clock chimes in the distance, and they break apart and gaze at each other. And then, just like that, they part their separate ways, ending the last conversation they would have for a long time.


	5. The Key to Battle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hannah helps with the war effort

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Hannah and the booty shorts, but not really)

Steve had moved out the next week, and Hannah hasn’t seen him since. She does, however, receive a letter from him every week, but they were all the same: he is doing fine, that this is for a good cause, etc. When she had asked about his acceptance into the military, his answer was very brief and vague.

She doesn’t get any letters from Bucky. She wonders if he’s alright.

Setting Steve’s recent letter down, Hannah grabs her long coat and heads to work for the night. The litter-lined streets were alive with people and traffic as the afternoon drawl ended and the night life began. A poster caught her eye and she stopped to read about a hire for a traveling show to help sell government bonds. The only requirements were that you had to be a young female, and you had to know how to sing and follow choreography. She considered it and wrote down the day and time the auditions were, assuring herself that this is probably the only way to help out with the war. With that, she checked the time and briskly walked to the bar to begin her shift. 

* * *

Another month goes by and she had gotten the job as a chorus girl in the national tour of “Captain America”. Every day Hannah had to go in and rehearse the song and dance for hours on end until all thirty or so girls got it right. They had yet to meet the star of the show, and the women were told that they wouldn’t meet him until opening night, much to Hannah’s disappointment. 

But soon enough, opening night was upon them. Dressed in her skimpy outfit and her helmet with the letter “A” on it, Hannah strutted on stage with the other chorus girls and began the show. The theatre was packed full and applause erupted as the hero of the show marched on stage. The man who was Captain America was very tall and muscular, and fit the part pretty well. Hannah tried not to giggle at the briefs that the costume designer made for him as he strolled in front of her and spoke his lines that were written on the back of his shield. He turned around to punch a fake Hitler’s lights out and they made eye contact for a brief second, and he hesitated, staring at her for a moment before turning back to the ecstatic crowd in front of them. She was confused by his hesitation, but ignored it and completed the routine with a fake smile that they had taught her for a month. After the last firework had gone out, the theatre rose to their feet in thunderous applause, and even some roses were thrown on stage as the cast bowed and then exited the stage.

Hannah followed the rest of the chorus girls backstage to the dressing room, listening to the comments about how cute the captain was. She rolled her eyes at those and hurriedly got changed, received her check for the performance, and headed out of the tent towards her home. She was passing through the hallway before an arm grabbed her own. Whirling around, she turned and faced the Captain himself, mask off. She squinted at him. His face looked so familiar…

“Steve? Is that you?”

A sheepish grin forms on the star’s face as he rubs the back his head. “Yeah, it’s me, Hannah.” She gapes at him, and is soon pushed aside as women crowd him asking for photographs. Hannah remains like this until the crowd thins, and Steve puts an arm around her shoulders and walks with her out of the theatre. They were silent as the Captain waits for her to find some words.

“So they got you wearing briefs on stage, huh? ” He laughs and Hannah smirks as they head home for the night. Steve tells her all about how he got there, from boot camp to the SSR to rehearsals for this gig. Hannah listens to all of his stories, content that she had one of her friends back again.

Shows were every other week, so the cast was always traveling, but with Steve by her side, Hannah didn’t mind the business that was her life now. During the shows, whenever he punched Hitler, Steve would always wink at her before continuing onto his lines, and she always made her smile. The chorus girls would always comment, but Hannah just rolled her eyes and told them that they were best friends, and that he was still available, which was always met with shrill screams and more chattering. Hannah always found it amusing because when Steve didn’t have that serum, none of the girls would approach him. 

Soon they had done over a hundred shows in the US, and found themselves headed out to Italy to perform for the soldiers. Many of the girls were excited, including Hannah herself, to meet the soldiers. She had told Steve earlier about her hope of seeing Bucky, but he shook his head and reminded her that there are many units out there, and to not get her hopes up too much. 

The day came and Hannah strutted on stage. They did a simplified routine of their show, and the soldiers whistled and hollered and cheered, and then it erupted into laughter as Steve appeared on stage and the chorus girls left. He asked for a volunteer and someone from the crowded shouted that he already volunteered, which was met with agreements. Soon objects were thrown at him, and Hannah gasped with horror and he tried to block them with his shield. The troops demanded the chorus girls be sent back, and Steve ran off stage while Hannah and a few of the other girls were hustled back on stage to sing a few more of the songs. During the final song she saw Steve and the agent named Peggy Carter run towards a tent in a hurry, and Hannah’s smile faded as she began to worry about what was going on that made him run towards the Colonel’s tent. 

After the quick performance she headed backstage and then out of the tent towards where Steve had headed, but was stopped by a soldier. 

“Hey, doll, what’s the hurry?” 

“Well, sir, I’m looking for my friend who ran over this way…” Hannah tried to get around him but he grabbed her arm to stop her.

* * *

 

Peggy Carter just happened to leave the tent after Steve ran off to god-knows-where, and watched this encounter. As she saw the soldier make a grab at her, she started to step in to intervene. Before doing so, she watched as the blonde-haired chorus girl yank her arm out of his grasp, slam her palm into the man’s nose, grab his shoulders and knee him in the solar-plexus, and kick his feet out from under him. Agent Carter smiled as the other woman fixed her helmet and stalk off to the Colonel’s tent, possibly in search of Rogers.

* * *

 

Hannah made it a few more steps before she was stopped again.

“That was mighty impressive for a chorus girl.” She turned to find Agent Carter studying her, a slightly amused look on her face.

Hannah grinned sheepishly. “You could say I’ve had to save someone from trouble before. Hannah Starling,” she shakes the agent’s hand as she introduces herself.

“Peggy Carter.”

“Oh, trust me, I know who you are. Steve talks about you a lot.” Peggy gives her a quizzical look, and Hannah explains that Steve and her have been childhood friends for years. When Hannah asks why he had run to the Colonel, the agent’s face droops and gives her the sad news.

“Your friend, Sergeant Barnes, has gone missing behind enemy lines.” She watches the Hannah’s face changes from a content look to shock. She quickly covers her mouth and whirls around, hiding the tears that had sprung into her eyes. 

“So… is he dead?” Hannah whispers, preparing herself for the worst. She hears a faint “It’s possible” from behind and her heart breaks. After a moment, she spins back around, determination in her eyes. “Where is Steve?”

Peggy gestures in the direction where he ran, and she follows Hannah to a parking area, where they find Steve trying to hijack a vehicle. Peggy stops him. “You heard the Colonel, he’s most likely dead.”

Steve continues to load the truck. “You don’t know that.”

“Even so, he’s devising a strategy,” Peggy pushes, a concerned look gracing her features.

“By the time he's done that, it could be too late! You told me you thought I was meant for more than this. Did you mean that?” The Captain spins around and stares at her, noticing Hannah gazing at him with grief and determination in her eyes. 

The agent nodded once. “Every word.”

“Then you gotta let me go.”

”I can do more than that.” And with that, she motions both of them to follow her to the hangers.


End file.
